The Saints have made a huge splash Tuesday on the first day of free agency when they signed safety Jairus Byrd for $54 million over six years, making it the largest contract for a safety in NFL history.
But was that too much money considering Byrd's injury history? At least one NFL executive didn't think he was worth the big bucks, certainly not the biggest of bucks.
Got this from an NFL executive not in the Jairus Byrd sweepstakes: "Good player, but not clean health. I would not give him a ton of money."
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) March 11, 2014
Injury concerns were confirmed by Brian Galliford of SB Nation's Buffalo Rumblings, who shared a little history with me.
Must Reads
Must Reads
The injury thing is significant. He missed practices late in the 2012 season with a vaguely-described foot injury, and then when he came back to the team last August after missing camp, he promptly took six or seven weeks to get back onto the field. That's when the reports surfaced that he'd been battling plantar fasciitis in both feet...
It's definitely something we should all be aware of. Hope for the best, naturally. Besides, there's good news. When Byrd is on the field, he's awesome. More from Galliford:
He played 10 games on those feet last year, though, and made a Pro Bowl and second team All-Pro anyway.
I guess we'll find out.